#100: The Impossible is Possible

As you read through your Bible it is pretty easy to come to the conclusion that the characters were super-human. You read about the miraculous results of their actions and can easily believe that they had something that you don’t have. That they were gifted with powers that you do not have access to. Truly, they are fantastic stories of God’s amazing power working through amazing people.

While the stories in your Bible are incredible, they involved people that are just like you – flesh and blood. They struggled with family, temptation, apathy, spiritual weakness, depression and illness. They were regular people living a life and trying to survive. So what is it that makes their story so miraculous? God’s hand is what makes their story miraculous.

Psalm 86:10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.

Miraculous things are still happening and you can have a part of the action. All you have to do is step outside of your comfort zone and do something possible. Notice that I used the word “possible” and not the word “impossible.” When you do what is possible, it creates a pathway for God to do the impossible.

In Deuteronomy we see the end of Moses life. His story is amazing, but when you take a closer look at what he did, you will see that it was all possible actions. He brought a mass of people through the wilderness to the doors of the promise land. He hit a rock with a stick and water came out. He raised his arms over the Red Sea and it parted. Never was Moses expected to work a miracle. He simply did what was possible and God worked the miracles and did the impossible.

In Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas did the possible, and God did the impossible. These two men found themselves in prison because they were teaching the gospel of Christ. Paul and Silas were beaten, thrown into the inner prison and locked in stocks. Despite their horrible fate, they sang praises to God. Certainly the jailor could hear the unexpected sounds: sounds of praise instead of screams of torment.

Miraculously, God had a plan for Paul and Silas.

Acts 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

Here is where Paul and Silas did what was possible so that God could do the impossible. Paul and Silas did not flee when the prison doors flew open. They stayed in their open cell. Through this act the jailor was convinced that God was real and a relationship with God was available to him.

Acts 16:29-31 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

The jailor was converted that night and baptized. They left the prison with the jailor and he washed Paul and Silas’ wounds and fed them. Paul and Silas returned to the prison later that night only to be released the next morning.

What did Paul and Silas do that was possible? They stayed in a bad situation in order for the Lord to fulfill his purposes. A man and his household were saved because Paul and Silas stayed and did not flee. God was able to use their situation to work a miracle but God did not abandon Paul and Silas after the miracle of salvation was worked. God delivered them out of their bad circumstance.

Proverbs 10:3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

God was not going to leave them nor forsake them in the midst of a trial, but his miracle of salvation for the jailor did require the Paul and Silas stay in an uncomfortable situation for a time.

Today, God is asking you to do the possible. God may even ask for you to be physically inconvenienced for a moment to create a pathway for the impossible to happen. You might have to stay in a bad situation, you might have to experience a moment of fear, you might have to try something new, but it is all possible. When you do that thing that is possible, you might get to see that you are a part of fantastic story when the impossible happens.

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